Kirk Perron (March 21, 1964 – June 20, 2020) was an American businessman, and the founder of

Jamba Juice Jamba, formerly known as Jamba Juice, is an American quick-service restaurant and juice bar chain that sells blended fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies, and other food products. The first Jamba location, originally named Juice Club, opened ...

Life

He was born on March 21, 1964, in

Huntington Park, California Huntington Park is a city located in the South Central region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The area includes the separate communities of Florence, Firestone Park, Graham, and Walnut Park, California. As of the 2020 cen ...

. At 16 years old, He started working at

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

as an assistant manager. On March 31, 1990; after leaving the

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

, Kirk Perron borrowed $30,000 from Lea Perron, and opened his first shop "Juice Club" in

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. By 1996, Kirk Perron's Juice Club has over 30 locations, including 12 franchised stores, but Perron later abandoned the franchise model in favor of company-owned stores. In 1995, his company was renamed Jamba Juice, drawing from a West African word for "celebration". Four years later, Jamba Juice acquired Zuka Juice on March 24, 1999, renaming all of its Zuka stores with the "Jamba" name. Perron left Jamba Juice in 2006 because of the acquisition by Services Acquisition Corp. International. Perron died from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

on June 20, 2020, at the age of 56. According to

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

, It caused breaking a hip.

Publications

* Jamba Juice Power (December 29, 2003),

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

. .

References

American food company founders Businesspeople from California 1964 births 2020 deaths People from Huntington Beach, California People from San Luis Obispo, California {{California-stub